Truck-ladder.



' C. L. BLATZER.

TRUCK LADDER.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 5.1915.

Patented Nov. 5, 1918.

3 SHEETSSHEET l c. L. BLATZER.

TRUCK LADDER.

APPLICAUON HLED JUNE 5.

C. L. BLATZER.

TRUCK LADDER.

APPLICATION min JUNE 5.1915.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

Q a gwuzm-fon wi hwm 7 taken on the line 2--2 of Fig. 3, illu'strating UNITED STATES PATENT on 1 Application filed June 5, 1915, $eria1No.32,391. I

To all wko'm'z't may concern:

Be it lmown'that I, CHARLES L. BLATzEn, a citizen of the United States, residing at North Birmingham, in the county of J efferson and State of Alabama, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Truck-Ladders; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact de- 'scription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the'artt'o which it appertains to make-and use the same. 7 'Thisinvention relatesto ladder trucks, such as are now used in the fighting of fire, and the primary object ofthe invention is to provide meanswhereby the ladder can be elevated easily and turned and positioned during the'elev'ati'ng operation. "'Another object of this invention is to provide a car for traveling along the ladder for facilitating the removal of persons, for mer chandise from thebuilding while the buildingis burningf'; 'An'other ObJGOlJ of thisinvention isthe provision'of means for operatively connecting the motor to theladder for pivotally moving the ladder as well as moving it rotatably of the truck structure. y

' Another object of this invention is to provide a car-fortravel along the ladder for facilitating thefrem'oval of persons, or merchandise from the building, which is burning; and-' a -l'so' to provide means for moving the car along the ladder section, and also means operatively connecting the motor to the ladder for pivotally moving the ladder as well as' moving it rotatably of the truck structure; a With the foregoing and other objects in view this invention: consists in such novel features of construction,"combination and arrangementof parts'as will be'he'reinafter more fullydescribed, illustrated in, the accompanying drawings and claimed.

In describing the invention in detail ref erence will be 'had to the accompanying drawings wherein like characters designate like or corresponding parts throughout the several'views, and in'which: P

F1gure 1-'is-a side" elevationof the im proved truck ladders, Y -Fig; 2- is an enlarged detail sectional view the ladder truck, e r 1 Fig; 3' is a fragmentary-plan view of the truck,

Specification of Letters Patent.

V 27 ,1 which has atented Nov, 5, 191 s,

Fig; 4 is, a fragmentary sideelevation of the truck, showing parts broken away,

-F1g. 5 is a cross secti'onalfviewthrough the V ladder sections ,andcar, and 1 7 Fig. 6 is'a fragmentary plan-View of the ladder sections. v eferring more particularly to the drawlngs, 1 designates the supporting platform of the ladder truck, which is of the ordinary construction in; motor'trucks and which is provided with any suitable type of engine for furnishing the necessary power for propelling the motor vehicle. Suitable steering means, indicated at 3 may be employed for steering or guiding thetruck,

' The truck 1 has a circular track 5 mounted "upon one end thereof, upon the upper surmounted a clrcular turnface of which is table or supporting plate6i The supporting plate 6 has an internalcombustio'n' engine 7 mounted thereupon, and a pair of vertically extending brackets 8 and 9. The brackets8 and 9 rotatably support a'shaft 10, to which is connected the ends of the side rails 11' and 12"of the lowermost section 13 of the ladder. The side rails 11 14 secured theretoi The ladder section 13 has a second section 15 slidably connected thereto, in: any suitable manner The side rails 11 and 12, of the sectionlS of theladder, and the side rails of the'section' 15 of the ladder, havetracks 17 projectingtransversely from their outer-surfaces,'which receive and form guides for the travel'of a car structure-20. The car-structure 20 has depending bracket arms 21V and 22 secured thereto, which have stub axles 2.3 projecting transversely therefrom," upon which rollers 24, 2'5 and26, are mounted. The rollers 24: and 25 engage the upper and lower surfaces and l2of the ladder section v p 13, have the ordinary type .of ladder rungs of the track 17 which is carried by the section 15 of the'ladder, while the rollers 25 and the track structure 17 which iscarried by the side; rails of the ladder section 13jrespectively.f

Thecar structure 20 embodies a platform suitable cleats 28 mounted thereon,*'for preventing the slipping from the pl tform of persons or thingsl'carried thereby. 1 The platform 27 of the carstructure has and rails 29 pivotally connected thereto by means of hand rail supporting brackets 30,

which are pivotally connected to the platform 27 A quadrant 31 is carried by the car structure, and is adapted to coact with one of the hand rail supporting standards 31, for holding the same in various adjusted positions. Cross hand rails are secured to the upper ends of the brackets or braces 30, and extend laterally across the car structure 20.

The car structure has one end of a cable 33 secured thereto, which cable passes about a pulley 3s carried by the upper end of the ladder section 15, and extends downwardly therefrom, connected to a drum 35. The drum 35 is rotatably supported by suitable supporting brackets 36 carried by the turntable 6, and it is operated by the prime mover 7, through the medium of a shaft 37 and suitable sprockets and sprocket chains indicated at 38 and 39 in Fig. 3 of the drawings. The drum 35 has the conventional type of hoisting engine clutch operating mechanism carried thereby, which is controlled by the operation of a foot lever 40, for throwing the drum into or out of rotation, as desired, for winding or unwinding the rope of cable 33 therefrom, for moving the car 20 upwardly along the ladder, or permitting the same to move downwardly, by gravitation.

The supporting brackets 36 also support the drum 41, about which a cable 42 is wound. The cable 42 passes about a pulley 43, carried at the upper end. of the ladder section 13, and is connected to the lowermost rung 44: of the ladder section 15, as is clearly shown in Fig. 6 of the drawings, so that upon rotation of the drum 41, the ladder section 15 will be moved upwardly along the upper surface of the ladder section 13 by the drum and may return to its initial position of gravity. The drum 41 also has the conventional type of hoisting engine clutch controlling mechanism carried thereby, which is operated by a foot lever 45.

The platform 5 has internal gear teeth formed upon the inner periphery thereof, as is shown at 45 in Fig. 3 of the drawings. A pinion L6 meshes with the gear teeth 45, and it is mounted upon a vertical shaft d7, which is rotatably supported in any desired manner, upon the turn-table 6. The shaft 17 has a friction wheel 4.8 mounted thereon, which has a lever 4L3 operatively connected thereto, for shifting the friction wheel. upon the shaft i7, as shown in Fig. 4. The friction wheel 48 has its periphery engaging the surface of a friction disk 50, which is mounted upon a shaft 51. The shaft 51 is operatively connected to the power or'cra-nk shaft of the prime mover T, by a sprocket chain 53, which travels about sprockets 54 and Byshifting the friction wheel l8 across the surface of the disk 50, the speed of rotation of the shaft e7 may be regulated, and by moving the disk or wheel l8 upon opposite sides of the central axis of the disk 50, the direction. of rotation of the shaft 47 m: y be regulated, as desired, for rotating the turn-table 6 upon the platform 5, for rotating the ladder structure on the truck structure 1.

The lower section 13 of the ladder structure has a supporting bracket secured thereto, which is in turn secured to a segmental rack 61. The teeth, which are formed upon the periphery of thesegnlcntal rack 61, mesh with a worm 62, which is mounted upon a shaft 63. The shaft 63 has a friction disk 6% mounted upon its forward end, the outer face of which is engaged by a friction disk 65 mounted upon the power shaft 52 of the prime mover 7. The disk 65 has a lever 66 connected thereto, for shifting the disk upon the power shaft 52, for regulating the position of the disk 65 with respect to the disk 64, for regulating the speed of rotation of the shaft 63, and also for regulating the direction of rotation. of the shaft. The direction of rotation of the shaft 63 is regulated by moving the disk 65 upon opposite sides of the central axis of the disk 64,. for either raisin-g or lowering the ladder structure of the ladder truck.

From the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings the advantages of construction and of the method and. operation of the improved ladder truck will be readily apparentto those skilled in the art to which this invention appertains and, while in the foregoing description, the principle of the operation of this invention has been described together with various features of construction, it is to be understood that certain minor features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts may be altered to suit practical conditions, provided such alterations are comprehended within the scope of what is claimed.

What is claimed is 1. A ladder truck comprising a platform,

a circular track on said platform, a turn' table mounted on said track, a prime mover carried by said turn table, an internal gear formed on said track, a shaft carried by said turn table, a pinion on said shaft and in mesh with the internal gear, a second shaft on said turn table and connected tothe prime mover, a friction disk carried by the second shaft, a second'friction disk :slidable on the first named shaft, a lever connected to the second mentioned disk for positioning the same upon. the first named shaft so as to engage the first mentioned friction disk at various points for driving the turn table in either direction and to vary the speed thereof, an extensible ladder carriedby' the turn table, and means raising and lowering said ladder,

2. A ladder truck comprisin a platform, a circular track on said plat orm, a turn table mounted on said track, a prime mover on said turn table, means driving the turn table in either direction by said prime mover, spaced supporting standards carried by said turn table, a shaft journaled on said standards, an extensible ladder having one section thereof secured to said shaft, drums journaled on said turn table, means driving the drums by the prime mover, a cable connected to one of the drums and to the outer section of the extensible ladder for moving the same in relation to the other section, a car slidable on the ladder, and a cable connected to the other drum and to the car for moving the same upon the ladder.

3. A ladder truck comprisin a platform, a circular track on said plat orm, a turn table mounted on said track, a prime mover Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the on said turn table, means driving the turn table in either direction by said prime mover, an extensible ladder pivoted to said turn table, tracks formed on said extensible ladder, downwardly depending brackets associated with said tracks, rollers journaled on saidbrackets and engaging the upper and lower faces of said tracks, a car carried by said brackets, hand rails pivoted to said car, a segment carried by said car adapted to engage the hand rails for holding them in various adjusted positions, and means moving the car and the ladder by the prime mover. v

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES L. BLATZER. Witnesses:

R. H. CHARTON, Jr., P. M. LOVELL.

Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. 0." 

